Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Unofficial Sasuke Update Show #3 on Nico Nico!

I'm happy that they are keeping the schedule! A month after the last one, Sasuke Director Masato Inui returns to host the 3rd installment of what he calls the Unofficial Sasuke Update Show on Nico Nico. Edit: He's traveling in Europe right now so we'll find out who will be hosting it. The first one was held back in October. November was the big month where he and Ryo were building Sasuke Indonesia and produced 13 behind the scenes videos on Nico Nico. Last month was the return of the first format with new people and this one seems to be a slightly different format. They have also introduced a brand new Twitter account just for the broadcast to handle the questions incoming from twitter to be answered live during the Nico Nico broadcast. The name of the Twitter handle is S ura channel (which means Sasuke back channel). Inui posted it on his twitter to confirm that it is indeed the case. I assume they will also do more announcements there tied to the broadcast like they did when they announced it's creation.

For those who are curious.. what is Nico Nico? This is the online streaming service that was used during the Sasuke 30 and 31 broadcasts that had commentary on the tournament while it was airing live in Japan. Over the past Sasuke 31 season, it was used often for community updates and additional content. This particular channel is new as this is a channel started specifically by the Sasuke Director himself. I mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: I need to reiterate something about the channel. This is not an official channel for TBS. This is his own personal channel and the views and impressions on this broadcast/channel are not the official views of TBS. For those who are unaware, Mr. Inui was hired to direct Sasuke after the collapse and eventual bankruptcy of Monster 9. He is now creative owner for the televised image of Sasuke and he serves not only as Executive Director but sole Editor of the televised show. However, he is President of FolCom and considered to be an outside independent contractor hired by TBS. Remember that while what he discusses about the composition of the show (which he controls), he does not serve as representative of TBS. TBS controls the license of the show and is the only one certified to announce any official plans. He wanted to make sure everyone knew that up front and there are certain answer he is just unable to give since he has limited control of the show and cannot possibly speak for TBS in an official capacity.

The hope was for this informal channel is to provide a monthly update
on the world of Sasuke from his perspective and provide an opportunity
to engage the community live. They seem to be doing more this time by adding not just keeping the Nico Nico live chat but also engaging the Twitter chatter. They are actively working on the sound and video quality so it is their hope they aren't plagued by tech issues like the first couple were.

Inui hopes to do this at a pace of about once a
month in an informal setting. So far the biggest news coming out of these was from the very first one Nico Nico where the announcement of Sasuke 32 being green-lit. We are very much in the off-season and are still waiting for plans to finalize for both Sasuke 32 and the Sasuke World Cup. He'll answer what he can so again, there are some topics he cannot formally address as
it's either out of his hands, political or he just doesn't know the
answer.

Sadly Sasuke is a closed set and the only way on is to be invited to be on someone's guest list. Sasuke 31 they had a lottery with Japanese viewers to fill out an audience (the first time they've ever done it), however I'm not sure if they will do it again and usually that is locked to Japanese residents only. However, if I hear about that again I'll be sure to post it. As for taping days, nothing has been set, and when it is we cannot post it online because it's a closed set. Unlike ANW, Sasuke does not have tickets to the event. I wish they did but they haven't incorporated that in the now 19 years they've been around. Maybe with more exposure to how it works in the USA they may change that but it's highly doubtful since they like to be able to control the flow of traffic on that set. I'll keep you posted if I hear otherwise. Trust me.. that's every foreigners DREAM to see it live.